Ace of Spades
by Saetezafo
Summary: She was illegal merchandise, but they didn’t know it. And now, on their way to find Eldorado, Jim and Silver end up dealing with more than what they bargained for. Love, hate and the unearthing of an unforgiveable crime lie in their future.
1. Scavenged Cargo

Disclaimer for all Chapters: I do not own Treasure Planet, Treasure Island, the idea of Eldorado (including the movie) or any of the characters within these masterpieces. I do, however, own Spade.

Summary: She was illegal merchandise, but they didn't know it. And now, on their way to find Eldorado, Jim and Silver end up dealing with more than what they bargained for. Love, hate and the unearthing of an unforgiveable crime lay in their future.

**Ace of Spades**

Chapter One – Scavenged Cargo

Darkness…

The girl blinked and slowly wrapped her thin, pale arms around herself, her frail hands grabbing her arms just below the shoulders. As she rocked back and forth, the sound of the heavy chains bounding her wrists and ankles scraping across the wooden floor echoed around her. It was the only sound aside from the low humming of the galleon's engine that she could hear from inside her confined space.

Where was she? She had no idea, all she knew was that she was not alone in this dark, forbidding place. Every now and then she could hear others, the sound of their bare feet scraping across the floor…even a weak cough could be heard if she were to listen very carefully. They were all in crates, just as she was, and all were bound for the same unknown destination. She had heard men talking about them as they were being loaded onto the ship a couple days before…speaking of how they would be hung if caught with such 'ill-created cargo' aboard their ship. Then went on to speak about how they were not just regular androids…

Ill-created? What did that mean? Was there something wrong with her and the others? How could having them onboard possibly get these sailors into that much trouble? What are androids? These questions and more were constantly cycling through the girl's mind as she sat alone in the darkness, fighting off the general feeling of claustrophobia that constantly tugged at the back of her consciousness.

Things remained the same for her for days. There would be no sound from the crewmen of the galleon until ice-cold water sprayed through the cracks of the crate, which happened about five times a day, on good days. When such events occurred, the girl found herself licking the tar based wood of her crate to get as much of the water as she possibly could before it has a chance to soak up in her clothing, at which point she would sometimes ring out into her mouth. No food came to them, though. Only water. But at this point the girl couldn't complain, at least they were keeping them alive. Or so she hoped.

On one day, though, the water didn't come, nor did the sounds of lazar cannon fire cease for what seemed like hours. The crew were shouting, the ship was shaking, and the girl found herself to be trembling with fear as she heard others in the crates around her cry out for help. What was happening? She wished she could see…just for a moment.

"Dump the crates!" a man's voice suddenly shouted as the loud thumping of boots could be heard coming into the cargo hull. "They are boarding us! We can't get caught with these miserable creatures on board! Shoot them all and toss the crates into space!"

The girl's heart skipped a beat as she heard lazars being fired and the people around her crying out, their cries soon dying away as each one was put to death by their unknown captors. A lazar shot through the 

crate the girl was in. It missed her, and shot another hole through the back of the crate, allowing a small amount of light to enter. She screamed out of pure instinct, which earned her crate two more holes through the side. Her leg was hit by one, and the other slashed through her hand and out through the other side of the crate. She managed to stifle herself through the immense pain long enough to catch the sight of white sparks flickering from her wounds. Sparks, as in from machinery? Her eyes widened just as she felt her crate being pushed across the floor.

Clapping her unwounded hand over her mouth she pressed her eye to one of the holes in the crate and watched as the opened hull leered closer. She shut her eyes when the crate tipped, and as she fell out of the ship she let out a terrifying scream. She heard lazar fire, but none connected with her crate this time.

After a few moments everything was quiet, her body began to float freely inside the crammed space, and the holes in her dwelling allowed crisp cold air to circulate. This, from as far back as she could remember, was the freest she had ever felt in her life.

--

Jim Hawkins stood silently at the docks of the Montressor Spaceport. He was wearing a simple tailored captain's uniform, the jacket was blue, and the trousers that were tucked into black leather boots were an untainted white. He had graduated with honours from the Interstellar Academy a year before, and was now the captain of his own cargo ship. Yes, a cargo ship. Everyone has to start somewhere, even if they did graduate at the head of their class.

But shipping cargo did not bother Jim, it allowed him to travel all across the galaxy—which was something he adored doing. Jim was still an adventurous young man, and even though he had gotten past his reckless teenaged years, he still craved the thrill of a daring escapade.

This, as a matter of fact, was the reason why he had journeyed to the spaceport. He had no shipments to make, and from the looks of things, there wouldn't be any shipments anytime soon. Besides, with the promise of seeing an old friend, he had doubts that he would have accepted any jobs at that time; he just had a feeling this was something he couldn't miss out on.

The sound of awkward steps on the docks came from behind, and the whirling of machinery at work came along with it. Jim perked up, his eyes growing wide as he turned around to face the man that moved slowly towards him. Time hadn't aged the cyborg in the least, nor had it torn away at his hardware at all. He was just as Jim remembered him. "Silver!"

"Haha! Jimbo!" John Silver opened his arms to catch the boy in a tight bear hug. The old pirate had waited a very long time for his reunion, and he was damn proud to see that the boy had made something of himself, judging by his uniform at least.

An awkward silence fell between the two after the embrace. What could they say to each other? It had been such a long time.

"It has been too long." Jim said with a small, childish smile. "I was actually starting to think I would never hear from you again."

Silver chuckled. "My boy, I couldn't just contact you for any reason! I had to have a zinger of an opportunity for us! Y'know, just like old times." He winked. "But I'll be gettin' to that later. We must be catchin' up, Jimbo!"

Jim nodded in agreement before turning slightly. "Come on, I have a small ship waiting, we will head back to Montressor."

Silver nodded and grinned before following.

--

"That's quite d'accomplishment there Jim." Silver said before drinking from the cup of ale Sara Hawkins had previously placed before him. "But, I fail to understand why you are just simply shipping cargo. You could be in the navy, boy; doing great things!"

Jim chuckled before resting his chin on his fist. "I know…but I don't believe the battlefield is for me, Silver." He said with a small frown as he gazed out through the window of the Benbow Inn. "For so long I have been lusting after something more…another adventure like the one we had five years ago. The closest I could get to it until now was shipping cargo across the galaxy."

"But it doesn't match up?" Silver asked.

"Heh, not even close," Jim answered, looking back at the cyborg with a weak smile.

"Well, that's good to hear!" Silver boomed, a broad smirk crawling across his fleshy features.

Jim looked at him questioningly. "What?"

"Jimbo, what would you say if I were to offer you another adventure out into space?" Silver asked. "To take you away from all of this—I know, I know. You aren't doing all that bad 'ere now, but a break from work, a vacation if I must compare it to that."

Jim leaned over the table, his eyes flickered with interest. "And where would this adventure lead us?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Ha, ha!" Silver shoved his hand into his pocket before smacking an old paper map open upon the table top, knocking his mug of ale onto the floor with a clatter. "This here map is from back in ancient times, Jimbo!" he explained. "Back way before we were gifted with carefree space travel; back to when the vast majority of human inhabitants were…" Silver paused and then whispered: "…on Earth."

Jim's eyes lowered to the map; it was old, the paper was stained yellow in multiple places, ripped here and there, and the markings on it were hard to see—some of it couldn't really be made out correctly without a tool to enhance vision. The young captain looked back to Silver, this time with a sceptical look on his face. "Earth? As in, the barren colony planet in the Milky Way Galaxy?" he started to laugh.

"What?" Silver glared at him. "You don't believe me?"

"WHAT could be of any value in Earth?" Jim asked as his laughter started t die away. "The place is a dump…and it is…wow…at least twenty galaxies away from our own!"

"I knew you would ask that question." Silver said as he took out another piece of old paper, this time it was a picture, a picture of a solid gold castle. "Eldorado," the cyborg said simply, "the city of pure gold. Everything…from the stone on the ground to the shingles on the rooftops, made from solid gold."

Jim stared down at the picture. He had never heard of this place before, he guessed it was one of those old legends that failed to live past the Galactic Wars. "How do you know this place is really there?" he questioned, still unsure. "Why should I risk my life on a savage planet for something I have never heard of?"

"How did we both know of Flint's Trove?" Silver asked. "Why were we sure it existed? We had a map. And this 'ere," he put a finger on the old piece of paper, "is the map to Eldorado. We just have to get to earth…and then…" he ran his finger over the path marked by the map. "We follow the directions."

Jim sighed and bit his bottom lip as his eyes fell to the map once again. Was it really worth it? It would be an adventure all on its own just to go to the Milky Way…but Earth? He held back a shudder before looking back into Silver's eyes, his brows slanting inward slightly as a small smirk came across his lips. "Let's do it," the young captain finally said. "But, we need to be thoroughly prepared…Earth isn't a safe place anymore, Silver."

Silver nodded, grinning with accomplishment. "We'll take care of that right away then, Jimbo! I want to be out'ta here by tomorrow!"

--

"They are all pirates aren't they?" Jim asked, crossing his arms as he watched the line-up of rough looking individuals climb aboard his galleon, The Sleeda. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he stared at Silver, awaiting a reply.

"Now, don't be so hard on me, Jimbo!" Silver argued, puffing up his chest in defence. "It was the best I could do, and besides…I don't think some of them are pirates. Look…there's a clean lookin' fellow right there!" he said as he pointed to a random person in the line-up.

Jim cocked his eyebrow at Silver and shook his head. "This will cause us problems later, you know that right?"

"Don't you worry Jimbo!" Silver said triumphantly. "Leave it all to me when the time comes about!"

"I left it up to you to find a descent crew." Jim mumbled, smiling slightly as he boarded the ship after the last crew member was on board.

Silver followed in silence, taking one last look over his shoulder at the spaceport. "Better have a good look, lad." He said. "This'll be d'last you'll see of 'er for a very long time."

Jim stopped and turned, his eyes glazing over slightly at the spaceport. "She'll still be here when I get back, so I'm not worried." He said before turning and heading towards the helm.

"Aye…that she will, Jim." Silver said under his breath before pulling the ramp on board. "But the problem is…we might never be coming back.

The takeoff was as magnificent as ever, but it was nothing that could amaze Jim, he had seen his sweet Sleeda launch many times before. He stood next to the hired help that steered the ship, his hands behind his back and his eyes wandering the deck. Earth…he had never been there.

"It'll take us a good month or so to reach our destination," the hired hand said after a moment. "The Milky Way Galaxy is tucked right out of the way of everything else…you boys sure you want to be wandering that part of space? It is said to be mighty dangerous."

Jim looked to him with a frown, but then nodded before staring back out at the deck below. "Yeah, most definitely; we are ready to face anything."

It was nearing nightfall when Jim finally left the helm. He stifled a yawn into the palm of his hand as he climbed down the stairs. The sound of something crashing onto the deck made him jump and nearly fall down the stairs. "What the hell? Silver!"

Silver limped his way out from behind one of the masts. "Jim! Come over here. We've found a cargo crate floating about and dragged it aboard." He said before returning out of sight.

Jim frowned and jogged to the scene, stopping short as he say the old battered black crate that lay surrounded by a dozen of the crew members. "What's in it?" he asked, stopping next to Silver.

"Haven't checked yet…but look…" Silver put a finger over one of the two holes burnt into the crate. "It was shot at…"

Jim narrowed his eyes. "Break this thing open, now." He ordered.

Jim and silver stood back and watched as one of the men tore the side of the crate off with one of his large, lobster-like claws. The limp body of a man, his waist wrapped in a white sheet and his ankles and wrists bound by chains, fell out of the crate and onto the deck. Wires and a sharp piece of metal stuck out from his forehead where one of the lazars had struck him. Another opened wound containing wiring was through his left shoulder.

"A…cyborg?" Jim questioned, looking at Silver.

Silver shook his head. "Nah, this guy was fully robotic…he was a full functioning android at one point."

"Android? You mean a human who had their brain and heart encased into a body of metal?" Jim asked, staring at him in awe. Silver nodded.

"Hey look! There's another one!" one of the crew members shouted.

Jim and Silver looked up to see another crate floating dangerously close to the Sleeda. "Rope it! Drag it in!" Jim ordered. "There is something definitely not right about this…"

"Could be a slave operation…" Silver suggested as the other crate was being roped. "Androids, being what they are, are usually enslaved and transported in a way like this; by humans usually."

"Why only humans?" Jim asked.

"Because, Jimbo, they feel that they deserve to be enslaved for trying to make themselves immortal by becoming less human. They believe they are traitors." Silver explained, watching as the crate was dumped into the deck.

"That's ridiculous." Jim said in disgust. "Open the crate!" he said, noticing that there were more holes in this one.

"Aye, aye Captain!" the lobster creature said before he broke open the side.

This time, a young girl fell out, her eyes were wide open, and her shoulders moving as she trembled in fear. Sparks scattered from the wound on her leg and the one on her hand. Her body was completely wrapped in white cloth, and just like the other, she was bound by chains.

For what seemed like forever, the crew just stood around and stared at her in silence. Jim studied her features, still in shock that she was alive. Her face was round, and her form was thin and slightly curvy; she had creamy white skin, and deep emerald eyes. Her hair was coal black, but was cut in a weird style; the back half of her head had very short hair, while the front half—aside from her messy short bangs—was long and cascaded down her chest.

After snapping out of his trance Jim looked to Silver. "Did you hire on anyone that can act as a Doctor?" he asked, his voice urgent.

Silver blinked and looked from the girl to Jim, nodding. "It was supposed to be a surprise, Jimbo. But come on, let's hurry below deck."

Saé: Well, that is it for chapter one! Hope you enjoyed it so far. :3


	2. Sidetracked

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

**Ace of Spades**

Chapter Two – Sidetracked

"Dr. Doppler?" Jim stood stiffly at the door to the 'Medical Cabin'—as Silver has so simply put it—this couldn't have been right! "Silver, he isn't even a real Doctor!" the young officer turned around to stare annoyingly at the old captain who was holding the now unconscious Android in his arms.

"That maybe true!" Dr. Delbert Doppler said, sticking up his pointer finger in his as-a-matter-of-fact style. "But I do know my way around an injury or two! That and I really, really wanted to come."

Jim sighed, running his hand over his face. "Just…just take her in." he groaned. Yes, he was happy to see the Doctor—but knowing that the babbling, blustering man was to be in charge of their wellbeing…it made him slightly ill to his stomach; it was bad enough that they had went with the original plan and made Silver the cook again.

Silver moved in past Jim and set the girl down on the table that stood in the middle of the room. Doppler looked her over for a second and then turned to Jim. "What happened?" he asked. "I had no idea we had a young miss on board."

"We didn't." Jim said as he walked up to the table, taking his hands out of his pockets. "We found her in a crate floating just off the ship. There was another, but he was dead when we brought him aboard." Jim picked up the girl's wounded hand and tilted it towards Doppler. "She'd an android."

Doppler leaded in and took the girl's wrist, his eyes staring at the wound over his glasses. "Well…well Jim I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news…but, ah…" he looked up at Jim and then at Silver, then back to Jim once again before he continued. "I-I-I know very little about the construction of-of androids. Now if it had been Silver here who was injured I could so something…but, but this!" he let the girl's arm fall over her chest. "Androids are a complicated thing; I have no idea how to go about repairing this damage. We need someone who can work with this sort of wiring and-and power!"

Jim sighed again, his time he tried to hide the fact that he was annoyed. This was a drastic turn of events, if they were to help this girl they would have to go out of their way and find help on a planet that lay along the side of their path. But what had to be done had to be done. "Do all planets have at least one person who can fix her then?" he asked, his left hand rubbing the side of his head.

"Oh we have no worries about that!" Doppler cheered in excitement, feeling that he was finally able to be of some use in the situation. "There are doctors all over the place that helps people transfer themselves to robotic bodies. I'm sure there are hordes of them over entire planets!"

"Really?" Jim asked.

"Well I may be exaggerating a little." Doppler corrected himself. "But there should be half a dozen doctors per-planet."

"The next planet is…wow, a good three days away from where we are now." Silver said, looking to Jim. "Y'sure you want to be keepin' her untaken cared of for that long? Somethin' might rupture the human organs that are keepin' her body functional. She will die then for sure, Jimbo."

"Montressor is only a day behind us." Jim said, lowering his head sadly. He didn't like the idea of heading back. "We could go back, head out again after we leave her with someone…"

"That won't be possible, Jim." Doppler spoke up, his ears lowing tight to his head.

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, his head rising quickly.

"Well, you see, some planets are against the transferring of human material onto a robotic form, thus they do not allow those types of doctors onto them…" Doppler laughed nervously. "Montressor is one of them."

Jim's eyebrow twitched, but he sighed and hung his shoulders in defeat—and a little in relief—before speaking. "Alright then, we'll dock on the next planet, have he taken care of and then move on." He turned. "Dr. Doppler, she'll remain here with you until she comes too." He smiled at him after, finally allowing his stress to let go for a moment. "Doppler…"

"Yes, Jim?"

Jim smiled. "I'm glad you came along, I really am. And I am sorry I never invited you along myself."

Doppler smiled. "I'm glad to be here Jim."

Silver grinned and began to follow Jim out before he turned to Doppler. "Eh, y'might want t'put some rubber seal over her hand an' her leg. It'll keep those sparks from flickerin' about." He tipped his hat before walking out of the cabin and closing the large wooden door behind him.

--

She was weak, and she soon found that she couldn't move anymore, she had just allowed herself to float around into the crate; accepting the fact that she would probably never get out. But when she felt herself being dragged roughly in one direction—well, her heart skipped a couple beats as excitement welled inside her.

Gravity returned to the crate as she slowly sank to the bottom again, her head and shoulder leaning limping against one wall as she listened to the voices coming from outside. She wanted to speak to them, she wanted to let them know she was there, but no sound would leave her lips; her body wouldn't move either, everything besides her eyes refused to budge.

She would have gasped, or even let out a small cry as she felt the wall of the crate being ripped away, but instead she fell out into the new light without a sound, her body hitting the deck of the ship like it were an old doll. She had been found…she was safe, right? Her eyes moved slowly upwards to look at her saviours. They were a rough looking crew, and suddenly a knot formed in her stomach, she was scared…maybe she wasn't saved.

She felt herself begin to panic as her consciousness began to slip away. Her eyes moved to one side, and before darkness claimed her, a pair of strong arms picked her up off the deck. The last thing she saw was the golden glint of a cyborg eye.

--

Jim stood at the bow of the Sleeda, his elbows resting on the railing and his face cupped by his hands. His eyes wandered the endless regions of space that lay ahead of them, and a small smile crept across his face. Maybe having an extra stop on the way wouldn't be so bad, of course they would get behind a day or so—but that didn't matter, right? Eldorado would still be there waiting for them when they were finished in port.

"So will d'young lass be accompanying us to Eldorado?" Silver asked as he walked up behind Jim, his pipe hanging loosely between his lips. "Or are we going to leave her where we drop her off?" he leaned on the railing next to Jim, his eyes turning to look at the young man he fancied as his son.

Jim shrugged. "I haven't really been thinking about it." He said, moving his eyes to look at Silver. "It will be a bother if we have to wait for her to be fixed…"

Silver shook his head, smiling slightly. "If you don't feel right about leaving her, we can take her along Jim. Waiting a day or two in port won't hurt."

"But just going to port will be taking a day or two off of our trip." Jim argued in a low voice. "And we don't know how long it will take to fix those wounds she has. It could be nearly a week before we head out again if we wait for her."

"Well, I guess we will have to see what happens then." Silver said, casually emptying his pipe over the side. "Your mind might change if you get too used to having her around…she will be on the ship for at least three days, y'know." He turned to leave but stopped when he saw that Doppler was standing behind them. "Ah, Doctor."

Jim turned, his eyes landing on Doppler's calm face. "Has she awakened?" he asked, straightening his back.

Doppler nodded. "I had a small conversation with her before I allowed her to come out as well." He said as he stood to one side. "Gentlemen, I'm pleased to introduce you to Spade."

Spade stood on the top step, her body still wrapped up in the white sheet she was found in, but her shackles were missing. Grey, rubber seals were clinging to her hand and the wound on her left leg, and she was supporting herself by a crutch that was neatly tucked under her left arm. A small smile appeared on her face as she saw the two men before her. "You are the one's Dr. Doppler told me about…you both saved me, right?" she spoke softly. "Thank you…very much."

Before Jim could answer her, Silver intruded, being his loud, jolly, complementing self. "There be no need for that, young lass!" he boomed, taking off his hat and bowing to her graciously. "We only do what is needed in times of trouble! Ain't that right, Jimbo!" he looked over his shoulder at Jim.

Jim blinked, and then nodded to Spade. "That's right. There is really no need to thank us." He said, allowing himself to smile. "How are you feeling though? Are you sure it is alright for you to be up and around yet?"

Spade nodded. "I feel alright, my leg really hurts though. Dr. Doppler believes that when the lazar struck me it might have it a primary moving circuit. Other than that I think I can get around good as long as I have this." She looked to the crutch.

Doppler nodded. "Spade, my dear, do you think you can get back to the cabin on your own?" Spade nodded. "Good, then how about you go back, I need to talk with Captain Hawkins and Mr. Silver about what we spoke about."

Spade nodded again. "I understand." She smiled slightly as she turned and made her way carefully down the stairs.

After she was out of ear shot, Jim turned to Doppler. "Did she tell you what happened to her?"

"Yes. She said she and others were on a ship…" Doppler went on to tell Jim and Silver about the voyage Spade had been on, and how the ship she was on was attacked. "Apparently they exterminated those in the crates and dumped them off into space. That is why the young man you found first was dead."

"Why would they do that if they are just androids?" Jim asked.

"It is like I told you, lad." Silver said, "Slavery."

Doppler shook his head. "No, there is something other than that I am afraid." He watched as the two slowly turned their heads to look at him. "Spade does not remember anything from her life before she was put into that body…she remembers waking up on the table after the procedure was completed…that is as far back as she can recall. And another thing…on the back of her neck, there is a barcode. They do not do that to androids…a barcode means she is a product."

"A barcode," Jim frowned, "how can she be a product? Maybe Silver is right, maybe it is slavery."

Doppler shook his head. "I cannot say for sure Jim. But what I do know is that…her memory shouldn't be gone. The procedures taken to create androids are concrete…no loss of memory has ever been recorded.

"Well what is wrong with her then?" Silver asked.

"There is something going on here that we just aren't seeing." Doppler said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Jim agreed, turning to look back out at the stars. "But I hope we do not have to dwell too deep into it."

--

Note: For those of you who have not read my profile on or my journal on DA, this story will now only be updated on Mondays and Fridays. Thank you!


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